Ecological Engineering & Ecosystem Restoration

January 30 - February 1, 2014 Naples, FL

Instructors: William J. Mitsch, Sven E. Jørgensen, and Jiyoung Lee

Description: Ecological engineering is the design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both. Its goals include the restoration of ecosystems that have been substantially disturbed by human activities and the development of new sustainable ecosystems that have both human and ecological value. Ecological engineering design principles and applications of ecological engineering, particularly for lake and reservoir restoration, stream and river restoration, wetland creation and restoration, coastal ecosystem and beach enhancement, treatment wetlands, and bioremediation/phytoremediation of contaminated soils, and green roof design will be covered. Case studies from around the world will be featured.

Instructors:

William J. Mitsch, Ph.D.

Prof. Mitsch is Eminent Scholar and Director, Everglades Wetland Research Park and Juliet C. Sproul Chair for Southwest Florida Habitat Restoration and Management at Florida Gulf Coast University. He is also Professor Emeritus and Founding Director of the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park at The Ohio State University. He received a B.S. in engineering at the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in systems ecology at the University of Florida, and also taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Louisville. Professor Mitsch’s research and teaching have focused on wetland ecology and biogeochemistry, wetlandcreation and restoration, ecological engineering and ecosystem restoration, and ecosystem modeling. He has co-authored or co-edited 18 books, including four editions of Wetlands and two versions of Ecological Engineering and has authored or co-authored over 500 papers, reports, and other publications. He has advised over 80 graduate students and 10 post-docs. He is founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Ecological Engineering and founder and past president of the American Ecological Engineering Society (AEES). His many awards include the 2004 Stockholm Water Prize with co-laureate Sven E. Jørgensen for outstanding contributions to the world’s lakes and wetlands.

Sven E. Jørgensen, D.Eng., Sc.D.

Prof. Jørgensen received his Master of Chemical Engineering, DTU, Denmark, D.Eng. in Environmental Engineering from Karlsruhe University, Germany, and Sc.D. (Ecological Modelling) from Copenhagen University in 1990. He is currently Professor Emeritus, University of Copenhagen. He has authored/co-authored over 350 papers and written or edited 76 scientific books on ecological modelling, systems ecology, ecological engineering, environmental science, and environmental management of aquatic systems. He has advised 30 Ph.D. students in environmental chemistry and sciences at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen. Professor Jørgensen was founder and editor in chief (1975-2009) and is now honorary editor of Ecological Modelling. He has been President of ISEM (International Society of Ecological Modelling) for 1978-1994 and 2007–present. His many awards include the 2004 Stockholm Water Prize with co-laureate William J. Mitsch for outstanding contributions on the world’s lakes and wetlands.

Jiyoung Lee, Ph.D.

Dr. Jiyoung Lee is Associate Professor at Ohio State University in the College of Public Health's Division of Environmental Health Sciences; she also has a joint appointment with the Department of Food Science and Technology. She has her B.S. and M.S. in microbiology from Seoul National University and her Ph.D. from University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. She had 10 year’s experience in managing both academic and private laboratories in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her primary research area is environmental microbiology for understanding the pathways of pathogen transmission from the contamination sources to human exposure in the environment, including water exposure, using molecular and genomic tools to investigate the microbial community structure, statistical tools, and rapid methods for the detection of target microorganisms. Her recent work in Ohio has focused on the impact of climate change on the transmission, fate and virulence of enteric infectious agents and cyanobacteria (beach water and drinking water) and the ecological services provided by wetlands to enhance beach water quality.